CSPI BEING BAD AGAIN

[Jerry D Mead]

I'm leaving in all the propoganda about the source of this story so that Rich won't get mad that I ripped off his story for circulation. It's importance demands the largest possible audience. JDM

Richard Cartiere's
WINE MARKET REPORT
Volume Two,Issue One
January 6, 1999



Editor & Publisher: Richard Cartiere
Visit our Online XTRA! News Web site -- http://globalwinenews.com


CSPI: Revise U.S. Dietary Guidelines on Drinking
Drop "Moderation" Word from Advice; Tell
Consumers Alcohol 'Potentially Addictive Drug'

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), which claims partial
credit for a recent recommendation by a scientific panel that alcohol be
listed as a carcinogen, has begun a campaign to add more restrictive
language on drinking to the U.S. Dietary Guidelines.
CSPI argues-in a 16-page letter to the advisory panel that will decide
any language changes to the guidelines for the year 2000-that the wine
industry is using the guidelines as part of a "drink for your health"
marketing strategy.
"In our opinion, the Wine Institute, and possibly the other alcoholic
beverage marketers, will take advantage of every possible opening to
portray the consumption of alcoholic beverages as a 'healthy choice' for
consumers," the letter states.
Changes made in 1995 to the guidelines adding statements that drinking
moderately was not unhealthy. The guidelines have been the cornerstone of
the wine industry's efforts to educate the public about scientific evidence
showing that one-to-two glasses of wine per day can lead to a longer and
healthier life. The move by CSPI assures that the wine-health debate will
be the most contentious public policy issue in 1999 for vintners. Alcohol
control advocates plan to couple the wine-health issue with a simultaneous
campaign to restrict alcohol-related advertising.
"We need a policy [on alcohol advertising] that mirrors those we've
imposed on tobacco," George Hacker, CSPI's
alcohol policies director, told the Washington Times last week.
CSPI's new campaign over the guidelines asks the panel to:
Þ Drop the word "moderation" from the alcohol section, which reads: "If you
drink...do so in moderation." CSPI recommends the phrase "no more than one
drink per day."
Þ Add the phrase: "Alcohol is a potentially addictive drug, and
approximately 10% of those who choose to drink will develop alcoholism."
Þ Delete the phrase "alcoholic beverages have been used to enhance the
enjoyment of meals throughout human history." CSPI calls the statement
"gratuitous, unnecessary and irrelevant."
Þ Add a statement that one-to-two drinks per day is associated with an
increased risk of breast cancer for women.
In October of 1997, CSPI published a tract titled Vintage Deception
that accused the wine industry of engaging in "commercial propaganda to
market wine as a health food."
John De Luca, president of the Wine Institute, issued a unusual direct
public response: "Our research dissemination is intended to counter the
political campaigns that push for higher taxes, trade limitations and
advertising restrictions on wine and governmental infringements on
constitutional rights." WMR

1 READ MORE ABOUT IT: CSPI's letter is online at
http://globalwinenews.com/health